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Friday, 19 December 2014

Miamira alleni

It's a sea slug! This bizarre nudibranch was discovered in the Philippines in 1993 and has since been found in a couple parts of Indonesia.

It looks utterly nuts! Or maybe broccoli. It appears to have big chunks of broccoli sticking out of every corner of its body.

And then there's that stalk of Brussels sprouts sticking out of its back. One specimen was measured at 10 cm (4 in) in length and had a tower of protuberances that was 6 cm (2 in) tall! Slugs aren't built for speed at the best of times but this one is so awkward it's a wonder she can keep upright.

It's a baffling thing to look at. You might even need to see it from several sides to work it all out.

And that seems to be the point. While there's very little known about Miamira alleni, its extraordinary appearance seems to serve as camouflage among certain soft corals in its habitat. It wouldn't be surprising if it fed on those self same corals, too.